This was an awesome vacation. The sites on the circuit we (Yinli, her cousin, and myself) took were absolutely astounding. We drove over 1205 miles and I took over 790 photos. This is a trip that everyone should try at least once in their life. I am putting up this website a week after getting back and it still seems like a dream. There were valleys that could contain the entire state of Connecticut with room to spare! The canyons, with their multitude of colors and formations were mesmerizing and impossible to comprehend. There was little traffic during most of the trip (no cell service) and you could pull over and just listen to the wind - there was no human background noise! The vistas and hikes completely erase your mind. The worst part of the trip was having to leave the peace and return home. This purpose of this website is to document the trip and also provide advice for others.
Contents
| Saturday, May 12 | Fly into Las Vegas, NV | |
| Sunday, May 13 | Drive to South Rim Grand Canyon, stop at Hoover Dam | |
| Monday, May 14 | Tour Grand Canyon | |
| Tuesday, May 15 | Drive to Kayenta, AZ | |
| Wednesday, May 16 | Drive through Monument Valley to Capitol Reef | |
| Thurday, May 17 | Tour Capitor Reef, drive to Bryce | |
| Friday, May 18 | Tour Bryce and Zion, drive back to Las Vegas | |
| Saturday, May 19 | Fly back to Hartford, CT | |
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Below are the hotels we stayed at. The prices were very reasonable and generally around $80. May go up during the summer.
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| Las Vegas, NV | Las Vegas Hilton | |
| Grand Canyon, AZ | Grand Canyon Holiday Inn Express | |
| Kayenta, AZ | Holiday Inn | |
| Torrey, UT | Best Western Capitol Reef Resort - ask for a room on the back of the hotel, those rooms have excellent views. | |
| Tropic, UT | Bryce View Lodge | |
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Note: All Hotels had high speed wireless even though you probably won't have cell phone service. I recommend eating at the hotel restaurants for the Best Western in Torrey and the Bryce View Lodge - food and service was great. The food at the Holiday Inn in Kayenta was also very good (probably better than anything else in town).
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| Las Vegas to Hoover Dam | 515 to 93 South. Continue on 93 to Hoover Dam. | |
| Hoover Dam to South Rim Grand Canyon | Continue on 93 until interstate 40. Take I-40 east towards Flagstaff. Take the exit for Route 64 which is just past Williams, AZ. Route 64 will take you directly to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Note 64 merges with 180 and will be referred to as 64/180. My GPS displayed 180 which was very confusing. | |
| Grand Canyon to Kayenta, AZ | Continue on 64 along the Grand Canyon. You will have multiple places to take pictures. The last outlook is Desert View before exiting the park. After you exit the park, the land will become flat. Turn left onto Route 89 (North). Turn right onto route 160. Route 160 will take you to Kayenta. Kayenta is about the only place to stay until you get to Capitol Reef. About 3 hour drive. | |
| Kayenta, AZ to Capitol Reef | Turn left off of route 160 onto route 163. This will take you through Monument Valley. There is no charge to drive through the valley. However, if you decide to drive through the portion on Navajo land you will be charged. Continue on 163 into Utah. After passing the 'Mexican Hat' formation you will branch onto Utah-261. You will need a decent car for this leg of the trip. There will be very little traffic on this road. Additionally, there is a three mile segment which is dirt. The dirt segment will take you up a cliff. It will take at least thirty minutes to climb the cliff and your heart will be pounding! Continue through the forest and turn left onto 95. Continue on 95 until Hanksville. This part of the drive is awesome as well - especially when you cross the Colorado River. In Hanksville (only stop with food), branch onto Utah-24 going towards Capitol Reef. Capitol Reef as well as the hotels will be on this route. About 4-6 hour drive. | |
| Capitol Reef to Bryce | Turn onto Utah-12. This part of the trip will take you up to 9600 ft. Expect a climate change! This is an extremely scenic drive as well. Stay on Route 12 until you get to Bryce. Hotels will be off of Route 12 for Bryce. About 2-4 hour drive. | |
| Bryce to Zion | Continue on Route 12 west. Turn south (left) onto route 89. Continue on Route 89 until the Mount Carmel Junction. Take Route 9 into Zion. Note, you will have to go throuh some long tunnels, expect delays. Hotels are on Route 9 - other side of the park. About 2 hour drive. | |
| Zion to Las Vegas | Continue on Route 9 until Hurricane. At Hurricane, turn onto Route 12 west. Continue on route 12 until you hit interstate 15. Take I-15 south to Las Vegas. | |
- Rent an SUV, make sure to get one with 4-wheel drive and a sun roof. The 4-wheel drive comes in handy when driving into the parks or pulling off the road to take pictures. The sun roof is handy when the canyons are towering over you. Also useful when driving down the main strip in Las Vegas. We spent only $160 on gas (gas averaged $3.25 for most of the trip).
- Bring plenty of cash - outside of the Grand Canyon (traveling towards Kayenta) the Navajo have setup many roadside booths where you can purchase very jewerly, pottery, etc. Prices ranged from $5 for a bracelet to $65 for a neckless. Prices can be negotiated. The further you get from the Grand Canyon the cheaper the jewerly will be. The jewerly and pottery sold at the Grand Canyon was typically five times more expensive. The Navajo booths end once you begin traveling through Monument Valley.
- Recommend gettting a GPS - very handy for knowing where you are. Some roads aren't numbered, so don't expect the GPS to have your hotel and or be able to guide you to it. If you miss a turn you might not realize it for an hour or two. Signs can be confusing at points. Note, the GPS will generally not work in the canyons. Make sure to pick-up a trail-map!
- Before leaving Las Vegas, make sure to pick-up a cooler and stuff it with drinks. There are very few stops along the way! Also, as we discovered, there were few restaurants so make sure to have some food or snacks. We picked upa styrofoam cooler at a Walgreens near the Las Vegas Hilton and loaded up. You'll need liquids if you plan to do any hiking or if your car breaks down in the desert where temps were around 97'F and there isn't a tree for a hundred miles nor cell phone service.
- Have plenty of quarters - trail maps generally range from $0.25 to $0.75 depending on the park.
- Do all of your driving during the day - you want to see the scenery! That is the point of the trip. At night, away from the hotel to admire the stars. With no pollution or trees, the view of the stars is absolutely terrific.
- Visit parks such as the Grand Canyon and Bryce at sunset. The colors on the canyon walls are astounding.
- Hoover Dam charges $7 for parking and there is an $11 fee to tour the inner part of the dam. On the day we were there, the elevators were out of service and thus it didn't make any sense to take the tour.
- When driving from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon, Kingman, AZ (where 93 intersects 40) is a great place to grab lunch. There are multiple restaurants to pick (avoid the IHOP, it was terrible).
- National Geographic has an excellent video overview of the Grand Canyon - cost is $12.
- Entry to all of the parks except Capitol Reef is $25 per car. For simplicity I recommend the National Parks Pass which costs $80 and will get you into any park in the US for a year. Capitol Reef was $5 - it was on your honor so don't be a jerk.
- Cell phone service was spotty for most of the trip. When there was service (except in Las Vegas), it was usually analog or out of network service (Verizon Wireless).
- Kayenta, AZ is on the Navajo Nation - as such there will be multiple taxes on the hotel but the gas is very cheap as there are no federal or state taxes.
- Between the Grand Canyon and Capitol Reef gas stations are sparse. I would not cut it close! Also, the price goes up the closer to the parks you get.
- I would recommend spending an extra day at Zion, doing Zion and Bryce in the same day was too much.